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Abstract:

A system configured to display autostereoscopic video (AV) may determine
a depth setting for displaying the AV based on at least one of user
parameters or device parameters, and may proceed to display the AV on a
display based on the depth setting. In one embodiment the system may try
to obtain user parameters before relying on device parameters. User
parameters may be available from user profiles. For example, facial
recognition may be used to determine if a user profile exists for a user.
If a user profile is determined not to exist for the user, then the
system may sense a distance from the display to the viewer, and may
proceed to determine the depth setting based on the distance and device
characteristics. Device characteristics may identify the
manufacturer/model of the system, the type/size of display on which the
AV will be viewed, the abilities of the system, etc.

Claims:

1. A system, comprising: a depth control module configured to determine a
depth setting for use in displaying autostereoscopic video (AV), the
depth setting being based on at least one of user parameters or device
parameters; and an AV processing module configured to display the AV on a
display, the displaying of the AV being based on the depth setting.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user parameters are based on
information in a user profile corresponding to an identified user.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising: an image capture module
configured to capture an image; and a user parameter module configured to
detect a face within the captured image, determine features based on the
detected face, and determine whether a user profile exists corresponding
to the features.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the depth setting is based on device
parameters only if a user profile is determined not to exist.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a proximity sensing module
configured to determine a distance from the display to a viewer of the
AV; and a device parameters module configured to determine the device
parameters based on the distance and device characteristics.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the device characteristics include
information identifying at least one of a manufacturer of the system or a
model identifier for the system.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the device characteristics include
information identifying at least one of a display type, a display size,
or a video chipset.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the depth setting is an amount of image
disparity for displaying left and right images in the AV.

9. A system, comprising at least one machine-readable storage medium
having stored thereon, individually or in combination, instructions that
when executed by one or more processors result in the following
operations comprising: determining a depth setting for use in displaying
autostereoscopic video (AV) based on at least one of user parameters or
device parameters; and displaying the AV on a display, the displaying of
the AV being based on the depth setting.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the user parameters are based on
information in a user profile corresponding to an identified user.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the instructions that when executed
by one or more processors result in the following additional operations:
capturing an image; detecting a face within the captured image;
determining features from the detected face; and determining whether a
user profile exists corresponding to the features.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the depth setting is based on device
parameters if a user profile is determined not to exist.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions that when executed by
one or more processors result in the following additional operations:
sensing a distance from the display to a viewer of the AV; and
determining the device parameters based on the distance and device
characteristics.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the device characteristics include
information identifying at least one of a manufacturer of the system or a
model identifier for the system.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the device characteristics include
information identifying at least one of a display type, a display size,
or a video chipset.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the depth setting is an amount of
image disparity for displaying left and right images in the AV.

17. A method, comprising: determining a depth setting for use in
displaying autostereoscopic video (AV) based on at least one of user
parameters or device parameters; and displaying the AV on a display, the
displaying of the AV being based on the depth setting.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the user parameters are based on
information in a user profile corresponding to an identified user.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: capturing an image;
detecting a face within the captured image; determining features from the
detected face; and determining whether a user profile exists
corresponding to the features.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the depth setting is based on device
parameters only if a user identity is not able to be determined.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising: sensing a distance from
the display a user that will view the AV information; and determining the
device parameters based on the distance and device characteristics.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the device characteristics include
information identifying at least one of a manufacturer of the system or a
model identifier for the system.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the device characteristics include
information identifying at least one of a display type, a display size,
or a video chipset.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the depth setting is an amount of
image disparity for displaying left and right images in the AV.

Description:

FIELD

[0001] The following disclosure relates to displaying autostereoscopic
video (AV) information, and more particularly, to devices able to display
AV information with configurable depth.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Autostereoscopy includes various methods of displaying stereoscopic
images that add binocular perception of three-dimensional (3D) depth
without use of special headgear, glasses, etc. on the part of the viewer.
Autostereoscopic video (AV), such as 3D movies, games, etc., may be
generated using equipment (e.g., cameras and other video processing
equipment) that is configured to generate 3D imagery based specifically
on where the AV will be displayed. For example, autostereoscopic movies
may be generated for display in a movie theatre, and thus, may include 3D
effects configured to appear correctly in a large display format.
Similarly, mobile devices (e.g., cellular handsets including smartphones,
tablet-based computers, etc.) may comprise autostereoscopic cameras
configured to capture 3D video. While such functionality may be
desirable, the 3D video captured by the camera may be configured for
display only on the small screen of the capturing device. This limitation
becomes more problematic as a larger variety of devices capable of
displaying 3D video start to become available. For example, AV generated
for display in a large format (e.g., on a movie screen, television, etc.)
may not display correctly on the screen of a mobile device due to the
small size of the display, the position of the viewer (e.g., mobile
device user) with respect to the display of the mobile device, etc. The
small display size/viewer position may cause the AV to appear "flat" on
the mobile device (e.g., no 3-D depth perceived by the viewer), and thus,
the AV may not invoke the experience of immersion originally intended by
the AV creator. Similarly, a stereoscopic camera in a mobile device may
be configured to capture AV for viewing on a display internal to the
mobile device. As a result, AV generated by a mobile device may not
display correctly on larger displays (e.g., computer monitors,
televisions, etc.) due to, for example, too much 3D depth in the AV. Too
much 3D depth may also distort the immersion experience from the original
intent, and could even cause the viewer to experience discomfort (e.g.,
visual fatigue that may cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, etc.).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] Features and advantages of various embodiments of the claimed
subject matter will become apparent as the following Detailed Description
proceeds, and upon reference to the Drawings, wherein like numerals
designate like parts, and in which:

[0004] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system configured for displaying AV
with intelligent depth control in accordance with at least one embodiment
of the present disclosure;

[0005] FIG. 2 illustrates example modules that may be employed in
implementing a system such as disclosed in FIG. 1;

[0006]FIG. 3 illustrates an example user parameters module in accordance
with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 4
illustrates an example device parameters module in accordance with at
least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0007] FIG. 5 illustrates an example depth control module in accordance
with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0008]FIG. 6 is a flowchart of example operations for intelligent depth
control in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure.

[0009] Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with
reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives,
modifications and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in
the art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] Generally, this disclosure describes systems and methods for
intelligent depth control for displaying autostereoscopic images and
video (referred to generally herein as autostereoscopic video or "AV").
As referenced herein, AV may comprise any three-dimensional (3D) display
technology that allows a viewer to perceive 3D depth without the use of
glasses, headgear, etc. In one embodiment, a system may be configured to
determine a depth setting for displaying AV based on at least one of user
parameters or device parameters, and may then proceed to display the AV
based on the depth setting. Example systems may include devices, or
groups of devices, that include a display capable of displaying AV such
as mobile communication devices, portable computers, desktop computers,
monitors, televisions, home entertainment systems, video conferencing
systems, etc. In one embodiment, user parameters may include depth
preferences (e.g., minimum and maximum allowed depth settings) configured
by a particular user, and may be stored in a profile corresponding to the
particular user, while device parameters may include the distance the
system's display device is from an AV viewer and various device
characteristics.

[0011] In one embodiment, the system may attempt to employ user parameters
in determining the depth setting prior to using device parameters. For
example, the device parameters may only be used if a user cannot be
identified (e.g., if a profile cannot be located corresponding to a
user). In one embodiment, users may be identified using facial
recognition. An image capture device (e.g., a camera) may capture an
image, and a face may be detected in the image. The system may then
proceed to extract features from the detected face, and may try to
determine whether a profile exists corresponding to the user based on the
extracted facial features. If a user profile corresponding to the user is
determined to exist, the system may determine user parameters using
information (e.g., depth preferences) in the user profile, and may
display the AV using a depth setting based on the user parameters. The
depth setting may be, for example, an image disparity setting for
controlling the disparity between left eye and right eye AV images when
displaying the AV, which may affect depth perception for each viewing
angle of the system's display.

[0012] In the same or a different embodiment, if, after attempting to
determine whether a user profile exists for a user (e.g., based on facial
recognition) it is determined that no user profile exists for the user,
the system may then utilize device parameters for setting the depth.
Initially, the system may determine the distance between the display and
at least one viewer that will view the AV. For example, a proximity
sensor may be configured to sense the distance from the display to a
viewer. Device characteristics may also be determined, such as a
manufacturer of the system, a model identifier for the system, etc. The
manufacturer/model information may be utilized to determine, either
locally or remotely (e.g., via the Internet), device characteristics for
the system. In some instances (e.g., where previously determined device
characteristics are not available based on the system's
manufacturer/model), it may also be possible to determine device
characteristics based on the capabilities of the system. For example,
information like the type of display that will be used to display the AV,
the size of the display that will be used to display the AV, the video
processing chipset being used in the system, etc., may be employed in
determining the device characteristics. The distance from the display to
the viewer and/or the device characteristics may then be used in
determining a depth setting for displaying the AV.

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates example system 100 configured for displaying AV
with intelligent depth control in accordance with at least one embodiment
of the present disclosure. System 100 may be a device, or group of
devices, capable of displaying AV. Examples of system 100 may include a
mobile communication device such as cellular handset or a smartphone
based on the Android® operating system (OS), iOS®,
Blackberry® OS, Palm® OS, Symbian® OS, etc., a mobile
computing device such as a tablet computer like an ipad®, Galaxy
Tab®, Kindle Fire®, etc., an Ultrabook® including a low-power
chipset manufactured by Intel Corp., a netbook, a notebook computer, a
laptop computer, etc. Examples of system 100 may also include typically
stationary devices capable of displaying AV such as a desktop computer
with an integrated or separate display, a standalone monitor (e.g.,
television) and/or systems that may comprise a standalone monitor such as
a home entertainment system, a videoconferencing system, etc.

[0014] Initially, system 100 includes AV 102. For example, system 100 may
display AV 102 directly from a fixed medium (e.g., CD, DVD, memory stick
or another read-only or rewritable medium) inserted in, or coupled to,
system 100, may store AV 102 within system 100 for later presentation,
may receive a transmission including AV 102 via wired or wireless
communication and may then immediately display AV 102 (e.g.,
"streaming"), etc. System 100 also includes modules 104-110, which may be
configured to interact to cause AV 102 to be displayed on display 112. AV
processing module 104 may be configured to process AV 102 in preparation
for showing on display 112. In one embodiment, processing may include
employing a depth setting for use in displaying AV 102. For example, the
depth setting may be an image disparity setting. In particular, AV may
include two images: one for viewing by the left eye of a viewer and one
for viewing by the right eye of the viewer. Display 112 may be configured
to separate the left and right images so that they are only viewed by the
left eye and right eye, respectively. Example display technologies that
allow display 112 to separate the left and right images include parallax
barrier and lenticular array. Parallax barrier displays may interpose
many small opaque barriers that block the images so that they are only
viewed by the intended eye, while lenticular array displays employ many
small lenses integrated into the surface of the display to focus the
images so that they are only viewed by the intended eye. By changing the
separation (e.g., the disparity) between the left and right images, the
amount of depth perceived by a viewer may be increased, diminished or
even reversed, and thus, the amount of 3D immersion into AV 102 may be
controlled. In this manner, the displaying of AV 102 may be configured so
that the originally intended 3D effect may manifest on display 112,
regardless of the size, type, etc. of display 112.

[0015] The depth setting employed by AV processing module 104 may be
determined by depth control module 106. In particular, depth control
module 106 may receive user parameters from user parameter module 108
and/or device parameters from device parameters module 110, and may
utilize these parameters in making a determination. For example, user
parameters may be derived from a user profile corresponding to a user
viewing AV 102, and may include, for example, a minimum and/or maximum
amount of depth "effect" for allowed for displaying AV 102. A user may
specify the amount of depth effect to help create the type of experience
desired when viewing AV 102. Alternatively, a user may be sensitive to
too much depth effect, and thus may specify a maximum amount of depth
affect in order to avoid experiencing discomfort when viewing AV 102.
Device parameters may be related to system 100 and/or the position of
system 100 with respect to a viewer of AV 102. For example, device
parameters module 110 may determine a distance from display 112 to the
viewer, and may utilize this information along with device
characteristics in determining device parameters. Device characteristics
may include information about the manufacturer/model of system 100 and/or
display 112, or may be based on characteristics derived from system 100
such as a size, type, etc. for display 112, a type of video processing
chipset being used in system 100, etc.

[0016] FIG. 2 illustrates an example system 100' in accordance with
various embodiments of the present disclosure. System 100' may include
modules configured to implement at least modules 104-110 as illustrated
in FIG. 1. System module 200 may be configured to perform the various
functions that may occur during normal operation. For example, processing
module 202 may comprise one or more processors situated in separate
components, or alternatively, may comprise one or more processing cores
situated in a single component (e.g., in a System-on-a-Chip (SOC)
configuration). Example processors may include various X86-based
microprocessors available from the Intel Corporation including those in
the Pentium, Xeon, Itanium, Celeron, Atom, Core i-series product
families. Processing module 202 may be configured to execute instructions
in System 100'. Instructions may include program code configured to cause
processing module 202 to perform activities related to reading data,
writing data, processing data, formulating data, converting data,
transforming data, etc. Instructions, data, etc. may be stored in memory
204. Memory 204 may comprise random access memory (RAM) or read-only
memory (ROM) in a fixed or removable format. RAM may include memory
configured to hold information during the operation of System 100' such
as, for example, static RAM (SRAM) or Dynamic RAM (DRAM). ROM may include
memories such as bios memory configured to provide instructions when
system 100' activates, programmable memories such as electronic
programmable ROMs, (EPROMS), Flash, etc. Other fixed and/or removable
memory may include magnetic memories such as floppy disks, hard drives,
etc., electronic memories such as solid state flash memory (e.g., eMMC,
etc.), removable memory cards or sticks (e.g., uSD, USB, etc.), optical
memories such as compact disc-based ROM (CD-ROM), etc. Power Module 206
may include internal (e.g., battery) and/or external (e.g., wall plug)
power sources and circuitry configured to supply system 100' with the
power needed to operate. Communications interface module 208 may be
configured to handle packet routing and various control functions for
communication module 212, which may include various resources for
conducting wired and/or wireless communications. Wired communications may
include mediums such as, for example, Universal Serial Bus (USB),
Ethernet, etc. Wireless communications may include, for example,
close-proximity wireless mediums (e.g., radio frequency (RF), infrared
(IR), etc.), short-range wireless mediums (e.g., Bluetooth, wireless
local area networking (WLAN), etc.) and long range wireless mediums
(e.g., cellular, satellite, etc.). For example, communications interface
module 208 may be configured to prevent wireless communications active in
communication module 212 from interfering with each other. In performing
this function, communications interface module 208 may schedule
activities for communication module 212 based on the relative priority of
the pending messages.

[0017] User interface module 210 may include circuitry configured to allow
a user to interact with system 100' such as, for example, various input
mechanisms (e.g., microphones, switches, buttons, knobs, keyboards,
speakers, touch-sensitive surfaces, one or more sensors configured to
capture images and/or sense proximity, distance, motion, gestures, etc.)
and output mechanisms (e.g., speakers, displays, indicators,
electromechanical components for vibration, motion, etc.). In one
embodiment, user interface module 210 may include, or may be coupled to,
display module 214 and image sensing/proximity module 216. Display module
214 may include an integrated or separate display (e.g., computer
monitor, television, etc.) configured to display AV using, for example,
one of the previously disclosed 3D display technologies or another
similar technology. Image sensing/proximity module 216 may include an
image capture device such as, for example, a still-frame or video camera
integrated in, or coupled to, system 100'. Image sensing/proximity module
216 may be configured to capture images (e.g., to capture images for
identifying possible users of system 100') and/or to determine the
distance from system 100' to a viewer of display module 214. In one
embodiment, image sensing/proximity module 216 may include, or be coupled
to, a proximity sensor that is separate from the image capture device,
the proximity sensor being configured to determine the distance to a
viewer of display module 214.

[0018]FIG. 3 illustrates example user parameters module 108 in accordance
with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. In general, user
parameters module 108 may determine if a user profile exists for a user,
and if the user profile is determined to exist, user parameters module
108 may further generate user parameters based on information in the user
profile. While manual entry of a user's identity into system 100 and/or
the selection of a user profile are possible, in one embodiment, the
determination of whether a profile corresponds to the user may be based
on facial recognition. In this regard, face detection module 400 may be
configured to identify a face and/or facial region in image(s) provided
by image sensing/proximity module 216. For example, face detection module
400 may include custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed face
recognition code (or instruction sets), hardware, and/or firmware that
are generally well-defined and operable to receive an image (e.g., but
not limited to, a RGB color image) and to identify, at least to a certain
extent, a face in the image. Face detection module 400 may also be
configured to track the face through a series of images (e.g., video
frames at 24 frames per second). Detection systems usable by face
detection module 400 include particle filtering, mean shift, Kalman
filtering, etc., each of which may utilize edge analysis,
sum-of-square-difference analysis, feature point analysis, histogram
analysis, skin tone analysis, etc.

[0019] Feature extraction module 402 may be configured to define features
in the face detected by face detection module 400, the features being
usable for identification (e.g., for determining whether a profile exists
corresponding to the user). Feature extraction module 402 may include
custom, proprietary, known and/or after-developed facial characteristics
recognition code (or instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and
operable to receive an image captured by, for example, image
sensing/proximity module 216, wherein a face has previously been detected
by face detection module 400, and to identify or "extract", at least to a
certain extent, one or more facial features in the face. Facial
characteristics systems usable by feature extraction module 402 may
include, but are not limited to, the CSU Face Identification Evaluation
System by Colorado State University.

[0020] Profile determination and access module 404 may include custom,
proprietary, known and/or after-developed facial identification code (or
instruction sets) that is generally well-defined and operable to compare
the facial features extracted by feature extraction module 402 to stored
patterns of extracted facial features (hereafter, "feature patterns").
For example, profile determination and access module 404 may be
configured to compare the extracted facial features to feature patterns
stored in user profiles database 406, and if a matching user profile is
determined to exist, profile determination and access module 404 may
access information in the user profile for determining user parameters.
User profiles database 406 may comprise accounts or records including at
least feature patterns and AV depth preferences. User profiles database
406 may reside locally in system 100 or remotely (e.g., accessible via
the Internet), and may be proprietary to, for example, an AV viewing or
distribution system, or may be associated with an existing online
interactive system (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, Google+, LinkedIn, Yahoo,
etc.). Profile determination and access module 404 may compare extracted
features to feature patterns utilizing geometric analysis (which looks at
distinguishing features) and/or photometric analysis (which is a
statistical approach that distills an image into values and compares the
values with templates to eliminate variances). Some face recognition
techniques include, but are not limited to, Principal Component Analysis
with eigenfaces (and derivatives thereof), Linear Discriminate Analysis
with fisherface (and derivatives thereof), Elastic Bunch Graph Matching
(and derivatives thereof), the Hidden Markov model (and derivatives
thereof), and the neuronal motivated dynamic link matching. If a matching
user profile is determined to exist, information may be accessed in the
user profile (e.g., depth preference information) for use by user
parameter generation module 408. For example, user parameter generation
module 408 may utilize depth preference information obtained from a user
profile to generate maximum and minimum allowed depth effect parameters
for use in displaying AV 102. The user parameters generated by user
parameter generation module 408 may then be provided to depth control
module 106.

[0021] It may be possible that no user profile is determined to exist
corresponding to a particular user, system 100 does not have resources
available to support user parameter determination such as illustrated in
FIG. 3, etc. In one embodiment, device parameters may be used in place of
user parameters for intelligent depth control. FIG. 4 illustrates example
device parameters module 110 in accordance with at least one embodiment
of the present disclosure. In general, device parameters module 110 may
determine a distance from display 112 in system 100 to a viewer, and may
utilize this distance along with device characteristics in determining
device parameters. In example system 100', distance determination module
400 may use image sensing/proximity module 216 in determining a distance
from display module 214 to a viewer. Distance may be determined via, for
example, an optical proximity sensor (e.g., image-based, laser, infrared,
etc.) activated prior to displaying AV 102, possibly in conjunction with
a message that is displayed instructing the viewer to sit in a position
relative to system 100 where AV 102 will be viewed, to place system 100
in a position for viewing AV 102, etc. Distance determination module 400
may then sense the distance and provide it to device parameter generation
module 402.

[0022] In addition, device parameter generation module 402 may receive
device characteristics 404. Depending on the configuration of system 100,
device characteristics 404 may be provided by device identification
module 404A or display/video ability determination module 404B. In one
embodiment, device identification module 404A may determine the
manufacturer and/or a model identifier for system 100. For example, if
system 100 is an Apple iphone® 4S, device identification module 404A
may be able to determine that the manufacturer of system 100 is "Apple"
and the model identifier as "iphone 4s". Device identification module
404A may then use the manufacturer/model to access device characteristic
information stored locally in system 100, or in a remote database (e.g.,
accessible via the Internet), for generating device parameters.
Characteristic information may include, for example, display type (e.g.,
3D display technology), display (e.g., screen dimensions, resolution),
video circuitry type (e.g., video chipset), etc.

[0023] Alternatively, device/video ability determination module 404B may
determine the above device characteristics directly from system 100.
All-in-one systems like smartphones, tablet computers, laptops, etc. may
store device characteristics for system 100 in the OS. For systems with
external displays (e.g., computer monitors, televisions, etc.) device
characteristics may be available via the system connection (e.g.,
Universal Serial Bus (USB), Digital Visual Interface (DVI),
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), etc.) through "Plug 'n Play"
interaction. Regardless of whether generated by device identification
module 404A or display/video ability determination module 404B, the
device characteristics may be provided to device parameter determination
module 402, which may then output device parameters based on the distance
and device characteristics. For example, device parameter generation
module 402 may consider the viewer distance from display 112, the
dimensions/resolution of display 112, the 3D technology employed in
display 112, etc. when generating device parameters that will allow AV
102 to be displayed on system 100 with the same sense of 3D immersion
intended by the creator of AV 102, even though AV 102 may have been
created for display on another type/size of display 112. The device
parameters may then be provided to depth control 106.

[0024] FIG. 5 illustrates example depth control module 106 in accordance
with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Parameter
collection module 500 may be configured to collect parameters from user
parameters module 108 and device parameters module 110. In one
embodiment, device parameters may only be collected if user parameters
are not available (e.g., a user profile was determined not to exist for a
user, system 100 does not support user parameter determination, etc.).
The collected parameters may be provided to depth setting determination
module 502. Depth setting module 502 may determine a depth setting (e.g.,
image disparity) based on the collected parameters. For example, the
collected parameters may indicate a user specified range of allowed depth
effect, and depth setting module 502 may adjust the depth setting so that
the depth effect falls within this range but still stays as close to the
intended 3D immersion of the creator of AV 102 as possible.
Alternatively, depth setting module 502 may receive collected parameters
that describe the position of the viewer and/or the type, size and
functionality of display 112 in system 100. Depth setting module 502 may
then adjust the depth setting to recreate the depth effect that would
have manifested in the intended venue (e.g., in a movie theatre) on
display 112 based on the viewer position and the characteristics of
display 112.

[0025]FIG. 6 is a flowchart of example operations for intelligent depth
control in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure. In operation 600 a command to display AV may be received in a
system configured to display AV. A determination may then be made in
operation 602 as to whether user-based depth control is available. If in
operation 602 it is determined that user-based depth control is
available, the process may proceed to operation 604 wherein user
recognition is initiated. In one embodiment, user recognition may include
a facial recognition process wherein an image of a user is captured by an
image capture device, a face is detected in the image and features are
extracted from the face. The extracted features may then be compared to
existing facial patterns in order to determine if a user profile exists
for the user. A determination may then be made in operation 606 whether a
user profile corresponding to the user exists. If in operation 606 a user
profile corresponding to the user is determined to exist, then in
operation 608 information contained in the user profile may be accessed
(e.g., depth preferences configured by the user) in order to determine
user parameters. A depth setting may then be configured for displaying
the AV in operation 610 based on the user parameters.

[0026] If in operation 602 a determination is made that user-based depth
control is not available in the system, or alternatively, if a
determination is made that no user profile exists in operation 606, then
in operation 612 a distance from a system display to a viewer that will
be viewing the AV may be determined. The distance may be determined, for
example, using a proximity sensor in the system. Device characteristics
may then be determined in operation 614. For example, a
manufacturer/model for the system may be determined, or alternatively,
characteristics of the display in the system may be determined such as
display type, display size, video chipset, etc. The distance determined
in operation 612 and device characteristics determined in operation 614
may then be employed in operation 616 in determining device parameters.
For example, the device parameters may be usable in operation 610 for
configuring the depth setting so that the depth effect intended by the
creator of the AV may be experienced by the viewer even though the AV may
have been created for another system. Regardless of whether user
parameters are provided in operation 608 or device parameters are
provided in operation 616, the depth setting for use in displaying the AV
may be configured in operation 610 and the AV may be displayed in
operation 618.

[0027] While FIG. 6 illustrates various operations according to an
embodiment, it is to be understood that not all of the operations
depicted in FIG. 6 are necessary for other embodiments. Indeed, it is
fully contemplated herein that in other embodiments of the present
disclosure, the operations depicted in FIG. 6, and/or other operations
described herein, may be combined in a manner not specifically shown in
any of the drawings, but still fully consistent with the present
disclosure. Thus, claims directed to features and/or operations that are
not exactly shown in one drawing are deemed within the scope and content
of the present disclosure.

[0028] As used in any embodiment herein, the term "module" may refer to
software, firmware and/or circuitry configured to perform any of the
aforementioned operations. Software may be embodied as a software
package, code, instructions, instruction sets and/or data recorded on
non-transitory computer readable storage mediums. Firmware may be
embodied as code, instructions or instruction sets and/or data that are
hard-coded (e.g., nonvolatile) in memory devices. "Circuitry", as used in
any embodiment herein, may comprise, for example, singly or in any
combination, hardwired circuitry, programmable circuitry such as computer
processors comprising one or more individual instruction processing
cores, state machine circuitry, and/or firmware that stores instructions
executed by programmable circuitry. The modules may, collectively or
individually, be embodied as circuitry that forms part of a larger
system, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), system on-chip (SoC),
desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, servers, smart
phones, etc.

[0029] Any of the operations described herein may be implemented in a
system that includes one or more storage mediums having stored thereon,
individually or in combination, instructions that when executed by one or
more processors perform the methods. Here, the processor may include, for
example, a server CPU, a mobile device CPU, and/or other programmable
circuitry. Also, it is intended that operations described herein may be
distributed across a plurality of physical devices, such as processing
structures at more than one different physical location. The storage
medium may include any type of tangible medium, for example, any type of
disk including hard disks, floppy disks, optical disks, compact disk
read-only memories (CD-ROMs), compact disk rewritables (CD-RWs), and
magneto-optical disks, semiconductor devices such as read-only memories
(ROMs), random access memories (RAMs) such as dynamic and static RAMs,
erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable
programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), flash memories, Solid State
Disks (SSDs), embedded multimedia cards (eMMCs), secure digital
input/output (SDIO) cards, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of
media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Other embodiments may
be implemented as software modules executed by a programmable control
device. The storage medium may be non-transitory.

[0030] Thus, the present disclosure provides systems and methods for
intelligent depth control. A system configured to display
autostereoscopic video (AV) may determine a depth setting (e.g., image
disparity setting) for displaying the AV based on at least one of user
parameters or device parameters, and may proceed to display the AV on a
display, the displaying being based on the depth setting. In one
embodiment the system may try to obtain user parameters before relying on
device parameters. User parameters may be available from user profiles.
For example, facial recognition may be used to determine if a user
profile exists for a user. If a user profile is determined not to exist,
then the system may sense a distance from the display to the viewer, and
may proceed to determine the depth setting based on the distance and
device characteristics. Device characteristics may identify the
manufacturer/model of the system, the type/size of display on which the
AV will be viewed, the abilities of the system, etc.

[0031] According to one aspect there is provided a system. The system may
include a depth control module configured to determine a depth setting
for use in displaying autostereoscopic video (AV), the depth setting
being based on at least one of user parameters or device parameters and
an AV processing module configured to display the AV on a display, the
displaying of the AV being based on the depth setting.

[0032] According to another aspect there is provided a system. The system
may include at least one machine-readable storage medium having stored
thereon, individually or in combination, instructions that when executed
by one or more processors result in the following operations comprising
determining a depth setting for use in displaying autostereoscopic video
(AV) based on at least one of user parameters or device parameters and
displaying the AV on a display, the displaying of the AV being based on
the depth setting.

[0033] According to another aspect there is provided a method. The method
may include determining a depth setting for use in displaying
autostereoscopic video (AV) based on at least one of user parameters or
device parameters and displaying the AV on a display, the displaying of
the AV being based on the depth setting.

[0034] The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used
as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention,
in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of
the features shown and described (or portions thereof), and it is
recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of
the claims. Accordingly, the claims are intended to cover all such
equivalents.